Meet the new K-SAA Director of Communications: Dr. Mariam Wassif

Exciting news from the K-SAA Communications Team: we have a new Director of Communications! Mariam Wassif will step into this role following the departure of Anna Mercer in September 2022. The Communications Team at the K-SAA are responsible for the news and notices on the K-SAA Blog, updating the website, posting on social media, circulating K-SAA news on relevant channels, assisting in organising and promoting association events, and perhaps most importantly curating K-SAA Blog Series. Editing and writing Blog Series for the K-SAA is something that Mariam Wassif has extensive experience in, as she has worked on developing innovative posts for the site in her role as Communications Fellow alongside Amy Wilcockson from 2020-22. We've asked Mariam a couple of questions to introduce her to our members and followers.  The K-SAA is also recruiting a new set of Communications Fellows. Check out the ad on our blog to work with us. 

Mariam, can you tell us about your work?

My work focuses on rhetoric, race, and material culture in the long eighteenth century and Romanticism. My current book project “Poisoned Vestments”: Rhetoric and Material Culture in Britain and France, 1660-1820, identifies an encounter between ancient rhetoric and commercial modernity across the canonical genres of the period, including poetry, drama, satire, and prose. In my public-facing work, I am a co-administrator of the Woman of Colour anti-racist pedagogy Facebook group, and as mentioned I have been a Communications Fellow for K-SAA  for the past two years. In that capacity, I created and edited the "Rethinking Romanticism" and "Romanticism Beyond the Academy" series and collaborated with Amy and current Comms Director Anna Mercer on many other projects, including the newly launched video interview series. I have spent many years teaching in France, first at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon and later as Research and Teaching fellow (2017-21) and full-time instructor (2021-22) at the University of Paris 1- Panthéon-Sorbonne. In the Fall, I'll be moving back to the States and starting a new position as Assistant Professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University. Needless to say, lots of change in my life at the moment! You can read more about me here and follow me on Twitter.

What do you hope to accomplish as Communications Director?

As Communications Fellow, I had lots of opportunities, creative license, and support from Anna and Amy. I've also seen and, I hope, been a small part of so many exciting changes demonstrating K-SAA's commitment to evolving as an anti-racist and inclusive organization.  As Communications Director, I'm really looking forward to building on this work. I want to see the "Rethinking Romanticism" and "Romanticism Beyond the Academy" series continue to grow under the influence of the new Communications Fellows, as part of the ongoing work of redefining the field of Romanticism in more expansive ways and nurturing literary communities outside the Ivory Tower. I'm happy to say that we've already got a great video interview lined up for the Fall: in November, we'll be speaking to writer Nikki Payne about her forthcoming novel Pride and Protest, a remixing of Jane Austen. I also think the new virtual events series initiated by soon-to-be K-SAA President Kate Singer will be a huge part of that work. Amy and I have wanted to organize virtual events for some time, and it's great to see this come to fruition. Launching this summer, the series will focus on digital projects and archives. We hope to collaborate with organizations such as the Woman of Colour group and the Early Caribbean Society to highlight work by marginalized and early-career scholars that is often undervalued in favor of the academic monograph. There are lots of exciting avenues for how this series can develop. Current Communications Director Anna Mercer always made it a priority to support and promote the Fellows and make space for creative thinking, and I hope to continue this work. I want to mentor the new Communications Fellows just as I've been mentored by many at K-SAA at an extraordinarily difficult time in academia. These projects are all part of my overall vision for advancing and communicating the organization's ongoing efforts to diversity and to (re)define its mission and values while nurturing a community of those who are passionate about Romantic-era literature. I'm really looking forward to getting started and grateful for the support of everyone at K-SAA. I'm also excited to see who our new Communications Fellows will be. Please spread the word about our call for applications.